America’s healthcare system is broken. That’s why Senator Harry Reid has led the charge to pass fiscally responsible health insurance reform that cuts costs, protects patients’ choice of their doctors and ensures quality affordable healthcare for all Americans.

If you like the health insurance you have, you can keep it. However, health insurance reform provides the kind of choices and competition currently lacking in today’s system.

And it does so in a fiscally responsible way. In fact, the Senate legislation, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, cuts the deficit by $1.3 trillion over the next 20 years.

It protects Nevada’s seniors by strengthening Medicare, extending the program’s solvency by 12 years while preserving 100% of guaranteed benefits, and lowering the cost of prescription drug medications. In fact, 58,200 Nevada Medicare beneficiaries are hit by the Medicare “donut hole” that can cost seniors an average of $4,080 per year. The legislation closes the “donut hole” over the next decade and provides a 50% discount on brand name prescription drugs and biologics for low and middle-income seniors. Furthermore, the legislation offers free recommended preventive care for 328,000 Nevada Medicare beneficiaries.

Additionally, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act drive down costs by covering the uninsured. Right now, Nevadans shoulder the hidden costs associated with the $335 million spent on uncompensated care in the state. By expanding coverage to the 518,000 uninsured Nevadans, the new law takes some of the pressure off of our state’s already cash strapped families.

Health insurance reform also invests in small business. While small firms make up 70% of Nevada’s businesses, only 49% of them offered health coverage benefits in 2008. One of the primary reasons for this is that the average small business pays nearly 20 percent more per worker than a larger company for the same healthcare policy. To address this, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provide tax credits that could assist 30,000 small businesses throughout the state to make premiums more affordable. There is no mandate on employers and small businesses with fewer than 50 employees will never face any penalties.

Finally, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act keep insurance companies honest. They will no longer be able to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions, being a woman, or getting older.

But most importantly, health insurance reform will ensure that medical decisions are made by patients and their doctors, not insurance company bureaucrats or anybody else.

"Taking your child to the doctor, filling a prescription or giving your workers health insurance should not have to be choices. They should not end in question marks. And that’s exactly why we are working to bring stability and security back to health care." -Senator Harry Reid